The population is expected to grow over 9 billion by 2050. To meet growing global food demand, farmers will have to increase agricultural production by 70%, in the face of climate change and land and water scarcity. Estimates put health care costs related to hunger, nationwide, at $130.5 billion each year It is less expensive to feed an individual healthy food for a year than to cover the costs of hospitalization and related medical expenses for one day. Source: The Alliance to End Hunger
Rick McNary became intensely aware of hunger as a pastor on a mission trip to Nicaragua when a starving girl asked him to feed her. He dedicated himself to fighting world hunger and recruiting volunteers to help. Since then, Rick has traveled to numerous continents in efforts to feed the hungry both with short-term relief and by creating long-term development models.
In the first six months, of 2010, Rick led a nonprofit that empowered over 120,000 volunteers to package over 20 million nutritious meals for the Salvation Army’s response to the Haiti disaster and recovery.
Rick is an innovator and advocate in the hunger space as evidenced by the development of the Kansas Hunger Dialogue, which gathers top administrators, faculty, and students from Kansas’ institutions of higher learning to collaborate on hunger. The Hunger Dialogue is now being replicated in other states. Rick is also the 2012 recipient of a National Innovation Award from the Alliance to End Hunger for his Healthy foods/Hunger Free Community model.
Rick is Vice President of Private and Public Partnerships for Outreach, Inc., an international nonprofit. In this role, he connects international government agricultural agencies, businesses, universities, and nongovernmental organizations to benefit the hungry. His favorite activity is to engage volunteers in meal-packaging events for the hungry.
He serves as Treasurer of the Executive Board for the Alliance to End Hunger in Washington, D.C., where he co-chairs the Alliance’s Advocacy Committee. Rick also serves as an Advisor to the National Hunger Free Communities Network.
Throughout his professional career, Rick has excelled in community leadership, teaching others the power of effective teamwork and volunteerism. Rick is a frequent keynote speaker on the topic of world hunger and blogs for several national and international hunger sites. He is the author of, Hunger Bites: Bite Size Stories of Inspiration. His novel, Voices on the Prairie, was released in the summer of 2015 and his book of humor, The Cows of Hobson’s Pond: Mostly True Stories of Growing Up Kansas, was released in 2016. He is also the editor of, Changing the Way We Talk About Hunger, an advocacy book created by the Alliance to End Hunger for people to intelligently talk about the issues of hunger.
Rick lives in Kansas with his wife, Christine. They have five children. Please listen to this week’s #MasterYourStory interview with Rick. We fully support his efforts and the efforts of The Outreach Program.
